#and don’t get me started on Connor mcmichael

[ryangravytrain]

Sometimes I’m chill and sometimes I want to write fics for Washington capital players that no one cares about

[bowensbyrams]

Hiii! I have a request- being around the team during Wj and calming Dylan cozens down before a game ?

Oh. My. God. This hits harrrrrd anon! Yes, totally. I love this. I’ll go with Kirby’s injury as a background just because it hurts a lot more so angst incoming!!!

You know there’s something wrong the minute you step out of your room. Usually you can hear the boys talking -non stop- while preparing to go to the arena, but the silence is installed.

Of course, with Kirby being injured just before their first game you could expect them to be a little off but there’s something else going on and you can tell. You feel something’s off. You look around and see Bowen walking in your direction, a deep frown on his forehead.

“What’s wrong, Bo?” you ask and his expression gets even more worried.

“It’s Dylan. I think he’s having an anxiety attack and he asked for you” the blond says and you immediately starts moving before the sentence is even over.

You’re part of the team Canada media team but ended up getting really involved with the entire team. Being stuck in hotels with them and being responsible for organizing the Zoom sessions, interviews and finding things to keep them busy helped to get you all to bond together. You’re the youngest member of the team and it was obvious you’d end up getting along with the boys.

“Where’s he?” you ask and Bo leads you to his room.

With Dylan things are a little different. You two have a chemistry that you two know it’s there but you can’t really do anything about it cause you’re both working. Getting involved would mean putting your jobs at stake and you don’t want that. This is the entrance door to bigger jobs for the two of you and you’re not willing to put that at risk. It’s hard keeping your feelings to yourself but you do what you have to do to keep your job.

When Kirby got hurt, you were the first one Dylan went to. He knew the kind of responsibility he was about to take and was scared, as any 19 year old boy would be. You two had a long conversation about what it would mean and how taking this role would be his chance to show Buffalo he’s NHL ready. But you knew it’d be hard and now he needs you to remind him he’ll do just fine.

“He’s in here. I’ll leave you two alone” Bo says and closes the door on his way out. You take a deep breath and enterthe room, finding Dylan sitting down on the floor on the furthest corner of the room.

“Dyl?”

“I can’t do this” he says and the crack in his voice breaks your heart “I can’t, Y/N. This was supposed to be me, Kirby and Bowen and now Kirby is out and I can’t do it”

“Dylan...” you approach him and the closer you get, the worse the pain in your heart is “Hey, come here”

“He was supposed to be here” the boy says as the tears stream down his face.

You kneel in front of him and open your arms for him. He burrries his face on your chest and sobs, making your heart shatter once again.

“I know, honey. But it’ll be okay. You, Connor and Bo will do it for him” you answer as you run your hands thorough his hair “Kirby will be watching you guys and rooting for you. He’s still your captain even if he’s not on the ice for you”

He sobs and holds you even closer, and you can feel his tears wetting your shirt.

“Dyl, I want you to look at me” you say softly. It takes a little while but Dylan looks up at you. His eyes are red and the tears are still running down like waterfalls “You are an amazing player and even more amazing teammate. There’s a reason you were chosen to wear the A. You’ve done this before and I know how hard it is to see your friend get hurt but right now your team needs you. Bowen needs you. You and Connor are gonna wear that A and support your captain on the ice and win this game for your cap off the ice too”

As you’re holding his face between your hands, it hits you like a truck. You’ve seen Dylan, the hockey player, so many times you almost forgot how young he is. You’re only a year older but this boy is so mature that he makes you feel like you’re the teenager.

But this Dylan is the real one. Not the confident hockey player, not the mature guy. This is the kid who’s scared for his best friend, the boy who left Whitehorse to follow his dreams. He’s scared and vulnerable, and he called for you.

If you had any doubts he feels the same way about you, they’ve been thrown right out of the window now.

His hazel eyes travel all over your face before he takes a deep breath.

“I can do this” he says and you nod.

“You can, Dyl. Go make Kirbs proud” you give him a smile and a kiss to his forehead, even if all you wanted to do was pull him into a real kiss.

Dylan takes a few more breaths before he gives you the nod and you help him get up. Standing, he’s way taller than you and the hockey player figure is back with all its grace.

“Go wash your face and I’ll tell everyone you’ll be down in a few minutes” you say as you clean a few tears from the corner of his eyes “It’ll be just fine, okay?”

Dylan nods and you start leaving. Just as you touch the doorknob, you feel his hand on your arm.

“Y/N” he calls and you turn around, just to see him right in front of you “Thank you. I wouldn’t be able to get up from there if it wasn’t for you”

“That’s what I’m here for, Dyl” you say and open the door, leaving him to get ready for the game.

It takes you a few seconds to get your feelings back together before you start moving. When you turn around the corner of the hallway, Bowen and Connor McMichael are waiting for you.

“Is he coming?” Bo asks, the worried frown in his face telling you he’s dying inside too. He’s keeping his shit together for his friend but he’s as scared as Dylan.

“Yeah, he just needs a couple of minutes to recompose” you say and both players sigh loudly “You’re gonna be fine, boys. All of you. You’re already doing a great job”

Bowen nods softly and gives you a little smile before taking a step closer and surprising you with a hug. Bo is the shyest of the trio and the last one you’d expect to hug you like this but it’s a pleasant surprise.

“Thank you” he says and you hold him a little closer.

“It’s okay, Bo. I’m here for you too” you say and Connor gives you a smile “Come here, McFlurry”

He laughs at the pet name you gave him and the three of you hold each other for a little while before breaking apart. Dylan appears in the hallway wearing his navy blue suit and if you hadn’t seen it, you’d never tell he was just having a breakdown in Bowen’s room.

“You’re all ready?” you ask and the three boys nod “So let’s rock some Germans”

•

Okay so I might write a part two for this blurb cause this plot it’s way too good to let it pass. But for now, that’s all I have for you. Would you like a continuation for this one?

[benisasoftboi]

Just got back from the first night of the Birmingham stop on The Book of Mormon’s current UK tour. Notes:

So Kevin Clay and Connor Peirson as Price and Cunningham - unsurprisingly, both very good, as this is hardly their first stint in those roles. But I’d never seen either of them live before, so that was exciting (UPDATE: someone correctly pointed out that Clay has left and it was actually Robert Colvin. I read the wrong cast list. I’m dumb)

Colvin reminded me a lot of Robert Manion, who I now realise I really, really want to see as Price (I’ve said before that I want Lauren Lopez to play McKinley in the style of Draco Malfoy, can you imagine? Throw in AJ Holmes as Cunningham since he’s done it before, maybe Tiffany Williams as Naba, and Corey Dorris as Mafala, and you’ve got my nerdy dreamcast)

I like that Colvin makes the role his own (some Prices reeeally try to be Andrew Rannells, which I don’t like - I want to see how YOU do it!)

I’ve noticed there are, broadly, two ways the role of Price can be approached, and different Prices will fall somewhere on a spectrum between them. Price has two defining characteristics - he’s very naive, and he’s very arrogant. Actors generally choose one of the two to emphasise. The first is more common, having Price be a very sincere character - he’s definitely self centred, but above anything else he does mean well. He seriously believes in everything he’s doing, and is genuinely crushed and beaten down over the course of the story, only to regain his optimism at the end in a new, more mature form. With this approach, Price’s character arc is primarily about him learning to be more realistic. The other approach is to focus on his arrogance and minimise the naivete. This Price is fully aware that his situation is shitty, and he’s not happy about it. His optimism is a front so people won’t realise how annoyed he is, and it’s desperation to find something that proves that he’s as incredible as he thinks he is that drags him into misery after misery. He is self interested above all else, and it’s only when he learns to care about and listen to other people that he gets to be happy. This Price’s arc is primarily about him learning that he’s not actually the greatest human alive, and that other people matter too

I’ve seen both versions of Price, and others that fall somewhere between (Rannells is probably the most middle ground, unsurprisingly, as he’s the originator). Colvin leans on the naive side, but with just enough immature whining and self-aggrandising that he’s not quite at the extreme (of the Prices I’ve personally seen, the naive extreme is Adam Bailey. The arrogant extreme is Stephen Rolley)  

Side note, is it not SO COOL that the same character, with the same script, can have a totally different journey based nothing more than subtle changes to line delivery, facial expressions and general demeanour? I love theatre

Little things - he greeted his dad in Spooky Mormon Hell Dream, his All American Prophet was fantastic, and he tried to make the General dance with him

Connor Peirson is excellent at physical comedy. Cunningham is another role where the actors sometimes try to be the originator, and again this was thankfully not done

His final name for Naba was ‘Nigel Farage’, which is pretty standard for UK productions, but it always kills, and tonight was no exception

His Cunningham was a little more low key and sassy than I’ve seen others do, which was interesting

Tom Xander is probably still my favourite Cunningham, mostly because he’s the only one who’s ever managed to act like a convincing 19 year old in my eyes - but that’s just personal preference, Peirson is still very, very good

I LOVED this Nabulungi, played by Nicole-Lily Baisden. She’s far more mature than I’ve ever seen a Naba before, and I honestly really like it. It made the character feel a bit deeper

Her Sal Tlay Ka Siti was much less idealistic and much more desperate than most are, and she was generally pretty serious up until Baptise Me - which makes that song so much sweeter, because we’re getting to see her softer side 

Baptise Me was an audience favourite tonight (though I noticed that they got the water on her dress in the wrong place, oops)

Naba being more serious also makes the Hasa Diga Eebowai reprise that much sadder

She wore a different outfit in Hasa Diga Eebowai than she does in the West End? A pink dress as opposed to a shirt and shorts. I like the West End outfit better

Also, the build up to that song was amusing for me because it was very obvious who in the audience had seen the show before based on when they started laughing at the title phrase

McKinley! I was super excited for this because of the main cast, he’s the only one I’d only ever seen one actor portray (live) (don’t misunderstand, I love Stevie Webb a lot, but it’s fun to see other people’s takes as well). And... I love William Hawksworth a lot too

Not sure if Colvin is tall or Hawksworth is short, but there was a full head’s worth of height difference between them

Also he was not wearing a blue tie, what the hell, how else am I supposed to pick him out when I’m too poor to afford seats where I can properly see their faces

McKinley is yet another character who came across as more serious than usual in this production. He felt older than Webb’s McKinley, and was less sassy and bitchy. But he was also, it should be noted, much, much more camp

Hawksworth’s Moroni, though? Sassy little shit

His delivery of the ‘I have it nightly’ line is my favourite I’ve ever heard. He says it very matter-of-factly, like he doesn’t even realise how messed up it is. Some try to play it up as sad, which I don’t think is in character, he should either do this, or show some awareness that it’s bad, but be trying to brush it off. His whole thing is denial, after all

McPriceley watch: He was very forward with Price, taking every opportunity to get in his personal space, especially on ‘was I in it’. He was visibly grumpy about ‘oh no, I’m not having gay thoughts’. Almost kiss had him notice that Price had put his hand on his arm, and then it was like his brain lagged, he didn’t even try to lean into it until Price had already walked away. Not my favourite take on it, but not bad. Also a little Hell Dream flirting

But, oddly enough, he kind of seemed to have a little thing going with Elder Michaels, of all people (McMichaels?)

And also (and I loved this) the moment Cunningham started doing his prophet thing, he started flirting with Cunningham instead of Price. It was honestly really cute. But like, what a little-

Both he and Price were hit in the face by streamers during Joseph Smith American Moses (where he seemed more irritated by what was happening than anything else). Also, the Mission President was visibly into that song (at first), which I haven’t personally seen done before

He hammed it up a lot in the Hell Dream, blowing kisses and everything

In more general stuff, this particular theatre is designed in such a way that the lighting in You and Me (But Mostly Me) looked better than I’ve ever seen it, go just for that

My audience really loved both Joseph Smith American Moses and Hasa Diga Eebowai. It’s always interesting seeing shows in different places, because different jokes tend to land better depending on where you are. This trip has backed up my previous experiences with going to shows in Birmingham, which is that everyone in this city has a sick sense of humour. It’s great

But they also tend to react really strongly to emotional stuff, lots of awwing Naba and Cunningham. They also really liked the dancing in Two By Two

There was an audible ‘oh NO’ from somewhere in the audience when Naba announced the play. There was also an audible ‘his SUITCASE’ in reference to McKinley at the end (the suitcase was also different from what I’ve seen before, it’s pink on a black background)

There were some mistakes in Spooky Mormon Hell Dream - Price missed his final line, and McKinley’s jacket came undone at the back. He tried to fix it several times to no avail. He probably would have preferred me not have been watching him the whole time, but I like seeing how actors deal with that sort of thing, so sorry, William Hawksworth, but I saw it all. Sincere well done for keeping it professional as you desperately tried to subtly reach around your own back

Ran into an actual Mormon outside who tried to recruit me

So overall, if you’re still here after all that - this is a really, really good production! Go see it if you live in the Birmingham area! 

Final note - Webb always dabs when the curtain falls. Always. I kept my eyes on Hawksworth. He disco dances. I don’t know who I hate more

[pucking-insane]

Secrets - Connor McMichael & Alexis Lafreniere

Player(s): Connor McMichael and Alexis Lafreniere Word Count: 1108 Warnings: None  There is some french in here, I just used google translate so if it’s wrong, tell me and I’ll fix it.

You grew up around the sport of hockey. Well, any Canadian kid did really. You had played in your youth, but when you screwed up your knee at the women’s world championship last year where you played defense for Team Canada, your career was cut short. So you stuck to cheering for your brother Alexis and the Rimouski Oceanic.

That was until Alexis made the cut to represent Team Canada at World Juniors in the Czech Republic. You were going to go with the team to Europe and cheer on your brother and his teammates.

“Y/N, remember, my teammates are off limits.” Alexis told you before you left. “I don’t want my sister to be canoodling or anything with those guys.”

“Fine.” You told him. “Whatever makes you happy.”

You stuck to your promise.

Well… That was until you met Connor McMichael. The 5’11” center from Ontario had caught your eye, and well, you caught his. You would hang out together after practices and the two of you just clicked.

So when Connor took you to dinner and asked you to be his girlfriend, you of course said yes. However, you did it without thinking.

“Con, what are we going to do about my brother?” You asked as you laid in bed with Connor watching a movie.

“Babe, we’ll figure it out. Laffy shouldn’t be too mad.” Connor pressed a kiss to your temple.

“Oh he’ll be pissed.” You sighed, cuddling into Connor’s side. “He specifically told me teammates were off limits.”

“He can’t just say that, Y/N. You’re his older sister, he can’t control you.”

“We never go back on our word though, Connor. He never dated one of my teammates.” You explained to your boyfriend.

“We’ll figure it out.” 

A month later, you were in the Czech Republic with your family cheering on Alexis (and your secret boyfriend) in the gold medal game. Alexis earned two assists on Barrett’s goal and Dylan’s goal. Connor scored a goal of his own, as well as assisting on Akil’s goal. 

You were elated! Your boyfriend and brother had just won gold in their biggest tournament. When Connor caught your eye, he tapped his heart three times. You repeated his actions and blew him a kiss. 

As the team was getting out of their equipment and celebrating their gold medals, Barrett brought up the lovey dovey moment he had witnessed on the ice.

“Hey, Connor, what was that thing with Y/N after the game about?” He asked.

“What thing?” Connor asked in response.

“When you tapped your chest three times. You were looking right at her, dude. And she did it back.” Barrett explained. “Are you two, like, a thing?”

“Yeah, McMichael, are you and my sister a thing?” Alexis asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I mean, yeah.” Connor sighed.

“Es-tu sérieux? Je pensais t'avoir dit de rester loin de ma sœur, qu'elle était interdite!” Alexis yelled. (Are you serious? I thought I told you to stay away from my sister, that she was off limits!)

“C'est ta sœur aînée, Alexis. Tu ne peux pas la contrôler.” Connor responded. (She’s your older sister, Alexis. You can’t control her.)

“Tu as fait une promesse! Tu m'as promis que tu ne ferais rien avec ma sœur!” (You made a promise! You promised me that you wouldn't do anything with my sister!)

“C'était avant de la connaître. C'est dur de ne pas tomber amoureux d'elle! Elle est gentille, attentionnée, douce, maladroite, elle me fait rire. J'adore Y/N, d'accord?” Connor yelled passionately, getting in Alexis’s face. (That was before I got to know her. It's hard not to fall in love with her! She's kind, caring, gentle, goofy, she makes me laugh. I love Y/N, okay?)

“Whatever.” Alexis walked away in anger.

“Great game, Alexis!” You said as you saw him walk out of the locker room, not knowing what had happened with Connor.

“Je ne vous parle pas.” Alexis replied shortly as he walked past you. (I’m not talking to you.)

Connor came out of the locker room next, a sullen look on his face. 

“Connor, you just won the gold medal! Why so sad?”

“He knows, Y/N. Your brother.” Connor whispered.

“So that’s why he’s mad?”

“Oh he’s pissed. Went full French on me.” Connor giggled, wrapping you in a hug.

“Let him be mad.” You sighed and cuddled into Connor’s chest. “I’m twenty years old, I think I can handle myself.”

The next day at breakfast, Connor joined your family for their meal before you were due to leave for the airport and head back to University.

Connor’s arm was draped around your shoulders and he was pulling you close. Your parents were getting along with your boyfriend and were able to joke and laugh with him. Alexis didn’t say three words to you or his teammate.

“I’m gonna go get some more bacon.” Connor said, grabbing his plate. “You want any, Y/N?”

“Yes, please.” You responded, smiling at your boyfriend. “Thank you.”

“Alexis, apologize to your sister.” Your mom said as soon as Connor walked away.

“Why?” Alexis scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “She was the one who broke a promise.”

“Alexis,” Your dad started. “Can’t you see she’s happy? Connor treats her like a queen. He has no intentions of breaking her heart.”

“Well he needs to prove me wrong.” Alexis scoffed. 

“Here’s your bacon, babe.” Connor said, setting the plate down in front of you. “And I know how much you love double chocolate chip muffins and they just put some out, so I grabbed one for you.”

“Aw, you didn’t have to do that.” You smiled at your boyfriend and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you.”

“You are most certainly welcome.” He smiled back. “Hey, the city is really pretty in the snow, you 

wanna go for a walk after breakfast?”

“I would love to.”

Connor was certainly right. Ostrava was really pretty in the snow. The two of you walked around and took pictures for your Instagram profiles, Connor being the ideal Instagram boyfriend. Eventually you had a snowball fight right outside the hotel. Your giggles could be heard from the hotel, where Alexis was standing at the window.

He walked outside into the cool air and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“McMichael!” He yelled out to Connor.

“Are you going to yell at me in French again?”

“No.” Alexis sighed. “What I wanted to tell you was that I will support you and my sister. Although, brise son cœur et je te briserai.” (Break her heart, and I’ll break you.)

“Deal.”